School cafeterias serve millions of meals to students each day. And as the end of the school year approaches, so does the uneasy task of collecting unpaid student meal balances.

This week schools and programs nationwide are celebrating all that afterschool professionals do each day! It's a time to recognize those who work with students during out-of-school hours, including community partners, afterschool program staff, and youth and child care workers. 

Schools and parent communication have reached a crossroad in recent years thanks to the ubiquity of smartphones and mobile apps. Currently, 77% of all U.S. adults own a smartphone and nearly 55% of them receive news alerts on their phones. As this trend toward mobile communication continues, technology companies are fast developing mobile apps that cater to the needs of school communities. Now teachers, parents, and students can communicate and collaborate more easily without having to rely on more traditional forms of communication like phone calls and letters.

In 2018 mobile commerce sales in the U.S. reached a record $208 billion, representing over 39% of all ecommerce sales. This year, that figure is expected to grow to over $270 billion.

Having been a part of the K-12 industry for decades, we know that your student information system is like the central control room for your school district. It’s how schools keep track of all student data, from grading and test scores, tracking student attendance, building class schedules, and everything in between. So when data can flow easily – and securely – between your SIS and other programs in your district, it can really save time and bring added efficiencies for school administrators, parents, and students.

MySchoolBucks is excited to honor the 850,000+ afterschool professionals nationwide who are dedicated to enriching children's lives during out-of-school hours. We are proud to partner with several afterschool programs, and in celebration wish all staff a Happy Afterschool Professionals Appreciation Week! With an estimated 10.2 million children participating each year, afterschool programs play a vital role in enhancing education, promoting physical and emotional health, providing a safe environment and exposing youth to new experiences.

With an estimated 40% of parents between the ages of 38 and 18, millennials are part of an ever growing parent population in K-12 schools. This generation of the early cell phone adopters, now Facebook, Snapchat and tweet constantly, turn to Alexa for daily problem solving, and require Uber as a main source of transportation.  With the increasing reliance on convenience-based technology as a part of daily life, here are some ideas to help engage with your parents and promote your meal program in the digital age:

Earlier this year, in an effort to help promote student participation in lunchrooms, the MySchoolBucks Growth Grant Program offered additional funding to school nutrition programs nationwide.

We wanted to help get students pumped up about school lunch in ways that were specific to each of your lunch programs and the ideas came pouring in. Out of 225 applications, we were thrilled to award 86 school districts with Growth Grants for the 2017-18 school year! 

Take a look at how some of the funds were used:

We've recently established a new partnership with SchoolFunds Online by TRA - and we couldn’t be more psyched about it! Developed for and by school bookkeepers, SchoolFunds Online is a comprehensive accounting system engineered to meet the needs of a dynamic school environment to automate funds management.